YouTube has never been a firm favourite of teachers seeking to protect students from content that is inappropriate. But the online video site has launched a new network that allows access only to content that can be used in the classroom.

YouTube for Schools gives schools the option to sign up with the website’s education channel, YouTubeEDU. Signing up means the site will automatically disable certain potentially dangerous features, like the option to comment on posted videos, and students’ ability to navigate the full web, thereby seeing or posting content that is not age or subject appropriate.

While some educators have complained that disabling features introduces children to negative censorship and restricts teachers’ creativity, Annie Baxter, a YouTube spokeswoman, says that YouTube EDU supplied half a million videos from which educators could choose. Teachers can also populate the subject categories, called playlists, when they come across videos on the mainstream YouTube website.